KRONET TIL KONGE

Dodheimsgard was the formation of Aldrahn and Vicotnik, two members of the Norwegian black metal realm. With assistance from DarkThrone drummer Fenriz on bass guitar, the debut Kronet Til Konge was released on Malicious Records in 1995. The music is fairly standard black metal of the Norwegian variety. Dodheimsgard execute the raw, primal and ugly elements of this form of expression and indulge without apprehension or concern for progression. There is no attempt to revolutionize. There is no experimentation or enhancement of traditional stylistic values. The work is simply an immersion in blackened sonic desires.

Kronet Til Konge succeeds as a fulfilling listening experience despite this intentional disregard for innovation/progression. This is because the members of Dodheimsgard possess a clear and focused understanding of black metal's sonic and thematic essence. As with any good black metal work, the music creates and sustains an atmosphere of thick, suffocating darkness and expresses a charged and passionate agony. Aldrahn's vocals are agonized screams of existential torment and frustration. His expression carries an earthy deepness that differs from the typical high-end banshee screams and troll croaks commonly associated with the genre. Perhaps one of the most underrated vocal performances in the history of black metal recordings, Aldrahn's voice is possessed with a dark and hateful determination. As the music mostly races past in a blackened blur, Aldrhan's vocals become the central focus in terms of individual performance. Without such a convincing and passionate representation this music would lose a significant amount of appeal.

With the knowledge and acceptance that the album does not aspire to broaden black metal's stylistic horizons, the listen can be a rewarding one. In a sense, Kronet Til Konge represents everything that black metal should be. Its soul is blasphemous and misanthropic, and its expression is thick with blackened passion and torment. Atmospherically, the music reflects a damp, dark cave of unforgiving coldness. Most importantly, the effects are sustained for the work's duration, allowing for a consistent presence to be established. It is not one of the greatest black metal recordings of all time. However, it succeeds in convincingly expressing and satisfying the desired emotional and atmospheric aspects of this style of music.

Dødheimsgard´s debut album is really not made for someone like me. My first experience with Dødheimsgard was their latest album Supervillain Outcast which is a masterpiece of experimental extreme metal IMO. One of the best metal albums I have heard in a long time. Really great album that one. This is very different from the sophisticated and clever Supervillain Outcast. I knew that Dødheimsgard was an old black metal band but what I didn´t know was that there is nothing exciting on this their debut. Quite disappointing really.

The music is very primitive and raw black metal comperable to noisy punk or early hardcore bands like Cryptic Slaughter or Extreme Noise Terror. Dødheimsgard is also very influenced by the early thrash metal scene. Bands like Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Possessed haven´t lived for nothing. If you know bands like Darkthrone ( the drummer from Darkthrone plays bass on Kronet til Konge) and Mayhem you will know what kind of style I am talking about. All the songs just blend together into a grey ( black) mass of trivial cliches though and I´m afraid the only thing that can excite me is the singer Aldrahn which have a very authentic and extremely angry rasp. No processed vocals here fortunately.

The sound quality is as it is on most early TRUE black metal recordings. Lo-fi. Really primitive and raw. Noisy you might say. I know this is how TRUE black metal fans want their music, but personally I find this to be way to primitive.

The musicians are sloppy and especially the drums from Vicotnik ( who would later shift solely to guitar) are very untight.

I can´t recommend this album to prog heads at all. If you´re curious about Dødheimsgard try their two latest albums instead as they are really great. 666 International and Supervillain Outcast are some of the best experimental extreme metal albums I have ever heard. I´m gonna have to give Kronet til Konge 1 star though as I really think this is a poor effort. Not recommendable to anyone else but fans of the early norwegian black metal scene.

DØDHEIMSGARD (Norweigian for "Realm Of Death" formed in 1994 in Oslo by Vicotnik (drums), Fenriz (bass) and Aldrahn (lead vocals, guitar). They were yet another band who jumped on the Darkthrone bandwagon of second wave black metal and should be commended for becoming perfect clones on their first album KRONET TIL KONGE ("Crowned To Be King.") All those early black metal traits are here in perfect replication. All the buzz saw guitars and tremolo picking, the shrieked unintelligible vocals and of course the lo-fi demo quality sound production peppered with all the anti-Christian Satanic lyrics (albeit mostly in Norweigian) about slaughtering God, winning the war and all the usual suspects.

While DØDHEIMSGARD would evolve fairly quickly even as soon as their second release "Monumental Possession" which would find them finding their own creative stamp on black metal before they would really delve into the avant-garde and industrial worlds, KRONET TIL KONGE is so generic it hurts after coming to this last after their original and creative run of "Satanic Art" to "A Umbra Omega." In fact if you placed any of these tracks on the first few Darkthrone albums no one would know the difference except for a slightly different sound of the vocals. The song structures are nearly identical as is the overall bleak atmospheric din.

There is nothing really bad about KRONET TIL KONGE either. It's as good as any other standard second wave black metal release of the era, but with a band as original as DØDHEIMSGARD it comes across as woefully substandard and even though i am a huge fans of this band i have skipped this one until i found the 2015 remastered version used in mint condition and took a chance. While i'm happy i have tasted this early roots era of DØDHEIMSGARD, i very much doubt if i'll be throwing this on for listening pleasure. Average and for completists only.

2.5 rounded down